Clemence
Family of Rhode IslandFrom Representative
Men and Old Families of Rhode Island,Vol. III, J. H. Beers, Chicago, 1905

Vol. III, p. 1938.

DANIEL M. CLEMENCE, a well known and substantial citizen of Glocester,
comes from one of the old families of the State. He was born Feb. 18, 1857,
on the farm on which he now lives and which he owns in the town of Glocester,
son of Reuben Amey and Elsa (Mann) Clemence, and grandson of Richard Right
and Mary (Place) Clemence. The ancestral history will be found elsewhere
in this work.

Daniel M. Clemence was reared on the farm where he was born, and in
the manner common to farmer boys in those days. He attended first
the district school and later the Lapham Institute, where he concluded
his schooling. He remained at home until his marriage, then locating
on an adjoining farm, where he resided until about June, 1896, when he
removed to his present farm and has since resided there. While Mr.
Clemence has always been a farmer, he has for a number of years been engaged
in carpentering work also. A man of natural mechanical skill, which
from boyhood enabled him to perform more or less work in the line of carpentering,
he concluded to take up that work regularly, and with that object in view
entered the employ of James Evans, with whom he worked for some time.
Since then Mr. Clemence has worked in that line; at the same time he maintains
a general supervision over his farming interests, and in both callings
has met with success.

As a business man, Mr. Clemence is careful and straightforward, honorable
in his dealings, and he enjoys a standing second to none in his community.
As a citizen he is progressive and public-spirited, taking an interest
in town affairs, but not as a politician. In politics he is a Democrat,
and he has served as assessor of taxes in Glocester.

On Aug. 20, 1876, Mr. Clemence was married to Miss Ruth A. Phillips,
daughter of George and Nancy (Hart) Phillips, and they have three children:
George W., who married Lucy Angell and has a son, Daniel M. (II); Mabel
I., formerly a student at the State normal school, and for a number of
years a successful teacher, now at home; and Ethel M., a successful school
teacher previous to her marriage with Otto Newman, of Manton, R. I., by
whom she has one son, Wilton Otto.

Vol. III, p. 1942.

RICHARD WRIGHT CLEMENCE, of Greenville, town of Smithfield, a well known
and substantial citizen, is a descendant of an old family of Rhode Island,
the earlier records of which are set forth in the sketch of Stephen H.
Clemence, elsewhere in this publication.

Reuben Amey Clemence, father of Richard W., was one of the best known
and most prominent citizens of Glocester, in which town he was born June
11, 1822, and received a district school education. He learned carpentry
with his father and followed that trade for many years, and with the exception
of one and one-half years spent in the town of Smithfield, his entire life
was passed in his native town. His latter years he devoted to farming,
and he died Aug. 11, 1901, on the farm where he was born, and was buried
in a private yard on the farm adjoining where his son Daniel M. now resides.
Mr. Clemence was a keen business man, and was a successful and well known
dealer in cattle, buying, selling and trading. He accumulated a large
property for one engaged in his line. In political faith he was a
Democrat, and he was prominent in the public life of Glocester, serving
as a member of the town council and representing the town in the General
Assembly in 1857 and 1886. He was a man of splendid business judgment,
strictly honest in his dealings, a fact so generally recognized that he
was frequently called upon to settle estates.

Mr. Clemence was married Oct. 26, 1845, to Elsa Mann, born Sept. 13,
1824, in Smithfield, daughter of Daniel and Anna (Colwell) Mann, and she
died March 28, 1895. They had children as follows: Mary Elizabeth,
born July 17, 1848, died Aug. 31, 1851; Lydia Ann, born Dec. 15, 1853,
married Daniel A. Smith on April 20, 1873, and resided in Burrillville,
where she died Dec. 12, 1887, a mother of three children, Charles R. (deceased),
Mary E. and Burt C.; Daniel Mann, born Feb. 18, 1857, is a farmer and resides
on the farm previously mentioned, in Glocester. Mention of Daniel
Mann Clemence will be found elsewhere in this work. On Aug. 20, 1876,
he married Ruth A. Phillips, and has three children: George W., Mabel
I.; and Ethel M., now Mrs. Otto Newman of Manton.

Richard W. Clemence was born in Glocester, and was reared to farm work,
remaining at home until twenty years of age. Meantime he received his education
in the district schools of Glocester. He learned the trade of carpenter
with his uncle Hiram Mann, of Smithfield, and for a number of years was
engaged as a journeyman carpenter, in 1890 taking up contract work, which
he has since followed, winning a reputation as a thorough, conscientious
and reliable business man. Mr. Clemence was a resident of Glocester
until 1883, when he removed to Greenville, and has since resided in what
was known as the Dr. King place, which he purchased a few years ago. He
has made a great many improvements on the property, and has one of the
attractive homes in the vilage. On Dec. 7, 1872, Mr. Clemence was
united in marriage with Ella Maria Brown, a native of Glocester, born Feb.
21, 1850, daughter of John B. and Maria A. (Ballou) Brown.

Mr. Clemence is a Democrat, but is not bound by party ties, voting for
the best men and issues. He is a trustee of the Greenville Public
Library, in the welfare of which he is much interested. Mr. and Mrs.
Clemence are members of the Universalist Church, with which they connected
themselves in Woonsocket. They are genial and companionable people,
and are much esteemed and respected. Their home is a model of neatness,
and a center of unstinted hospitality.